Would like to buy a house in NoVa but don't know if we'll be able to find what we're looking for (Burke: houses, buying)

[doglover29]

Originally Posted by mdcrim

I know, it won't put you in the most exclusive area so gone are your bragging rights, and your husband, with his 70 hour work week, may have to add some time to his commute, but you may find yourself around more people like yourself.

I have been following this thread for awhile and it seems as though, from an outsiders perspective, you aren't too happy in this area altogether and you don't know of any way, aside from your husbands under-30 minute commute living in the most expensive area of Virginia, to be happy here. So good luck in the midwest...

We don't care about living in an "exclusive area"--we have no interest in that whatsoever. Even McLean has its fair share of crapshacks, by the way. And lots of them, even though it's in a so-called "exclusive" area. But we have researched all the NoVa neighborhoods extensively/spent a lot of time in them, and have decided that we like the feel of McLean the best. The more modest areas of McLean, I mean. Not where the huge mansions are. More like streets around Morrill Court/Maxwell Court. It just has the kind of neighborhood feel we like--sidewalks, nice sized yards, nice neighborhood layout, just enough mature trees, close to a cute little shopping area in Chesterbrook, etc. The feel of McLean says "home" to us. We haven't felt that about North Arlington, Falls Church, Dunn Loring, etc. Of course, we still have more researching to do, but from what we've done so far, this is what we've concluded. I'm sure North Arlington has more people in their 30's and 40's but we don't like the old brick colonials that all look exactly the same, with their tiny yards, and how all the houses are so close together.

And we are very happy here in DC. I've lived all over, in cities large and small, and DC is my favorite place yet. It has everything we're looking for (except steep housing prices). I'd be very sad if/when we move. We haven't made a decision yet. We still want to do more looking with our realtor to see if we can find a happy compromise between the commute, the crapshacks, the high housing costs, etc. Maybe we'll find something. But we do prefer NoVa to Maryland and we'd never find what we're looking for in DC itself. Also, my hubby's desire not to have over a 30-minute commute is firm. He works hard enough as it is, and doesn't want to add a lengthy commute to that. McLean would be perfect, because it's so close to DC. Vienna seems like it has some interesting prospects, we're checking out a few houses we've liked there this week.

[Yankeesfan]

Is this the longest thread ever on this forum? While it's entertaining, I think someone else accurately described it at this point as beating a dead horse. You're really not going to find they type of house you want at the price you want within the commuting distance you want. More whining isn't going to make it happen. So I hope you can either reconcile yourself to scaling down your grandiose notions (I know, you'll deny that that's what they are) and enjoy what you CAN have while living here since you like the area, or decide that since your house is the top priority you need to move to one of the places where you can afford what you want. And I really hope your husband can find it in himself to reduce his work hours so that you can have a life together. (Those are the type of husbands whose wives drag them onto the Dr. Phil show!) And I think you really are capable of friendship, you're interesting enough to keep us along with this drama for 13 pages so far, but if you're acting like this much of a princess in real life, that may be an obstacle. Reading your blog made me feel sad, I think you can enjoy life much more and be happier if you can get involved in something productive instead of moping. It can be hard sometimes but you have a lot of advantages so I wish you luck with making a decision and hope things work out well.

[ACWhite]

Unless you have small children at home, maybe you should consider getting a paying job so that you can afford both the land and the house you are looking for? I haven't read all your posts, but I've seen you discuss only your husband's job. If both of you had incomes that would give you additional options. Bear in mind that you are competing for housing against a lot of dual career couples, and a lot of single earners who are older than you and at higher paying career stages, and/or have investments or equity in prior houses that you may not have.

There seem to be a lot of contradictions in your posts. In some you say you "love" the area and that you'll be sad to leave (a lot of people feel that way, which is why the land close-in costs so much). In other posts, e.g., in response to my direct questions, you disliked or were neutral about most of the advantages of the area and placed high priority on one key disadvantage (cost of living, particularly housing). Maybe it would help for you to sort this out a bit more.

[tgbwc]

Originally Posted by doglover29

Yes, my husband's salary will be the same wherever he gets a job, whether that's Mobile, Alabama, here or Milwaukee. The question you pose is the one we've been wrestling with for the last two months. It's a really hard decision. We do value having a really nice house very highly. We aren't interested in getting a starter home and then moving again in 5-8 years. We also have no interest in renovating an older, non-updated house.

Other factors:

-Worse weather--as long as there are 4 seasons, I'm happy. I don't mind the cold and snow at all.
-Fewer things to do/less culture--this is a problem. We are worried we'll be bored in the midwest. This is our main concern. But how often will we really go into the city and take advantage of all DC has to offer if we live far away like in Springfield, Great Falls, etc.?

-Being further away from family and friends--my family is on the West Coast; his is in Maine. So that's not applicable to our situation. We have no friends here in DC; so we really don't have any ties to this area. We came here not knowing anyone; we haven't made any friends here.

Even if you really wanted to, how would you make friends and do anything with them having a 70 hour work week? How often do you get into the city with a 70 hour work week? Is Springfield really that far out compared to McLean?

[Denton56]

Originally Posted by JfromReston

I know this blows your 30 minute desired commute - but I was drooling over the virtual tour just yesterday. It is under $700K and built in the 80's. It is very near where I live and I commute to DC (Thomas Circle) in 45 minutes every day with with a car pool on 66. I'm pretty sure it even has lake access.

View Property Details- 11126 TIMBERHEAD LN, RESTON, VA 20191

I have to wonder why that house hasn't sold. It looks great!

[Denton56]

Originally Posted by Bass101

5Stones, Your logic about "sweat equity" no longer applies. The run-up in housing prices from 2001-2006 was unprecedented and based on greed and loose lending standards. It will never happen again. A house will only appreciate along with inflation. 5-7 years is too short. Try 10-15 years. Especially after the current housing crash continues for years to come.

By the way, your issues of 'entitlement' and 'being spoiled' do not hold water with everyone. I'm not some 23 year old who thinks they need a big house right out of college. I'm 34, put in my dues, make a good salary, and refuse to spend THREE QUARTERS OF A MILLION DOLLARS on some starter house that is a small, smelly rambler. Why does everyone in NOVA think their house is worth so much?

Because they are! If someone is willing to pay that price, then that's exactly what the house is worth. You need not do that. You may rent forever, if that is what you choose to do.

[Denton56]

Originally Posted by doglover29

I love DC, don't get me wrong. I've lived all over and it's by far my favorite city. But it would really bother me to buy one of these crapshacks and pay $600-$700 K for it knowing it needs a ton of work, is small, and isn't very nice. It's one thing to pay that kind of money for a really nice house, but these houses we're seeing are depressing. To us, it makes more sense to move to a city with a lower cost of living (like Milwaukee), buy a gorgeous house for $300-$400 K (the kind of houses that are 1.5 million here), and use all the extra money we're saving on the mortgage to have a better quality of life (i.e. nicer vacations, etc.) I know it's a nice place to live, but there are other nice places to live and you can have a better quality of life elsewhere, if you're not blowing most of your take home pay on a huge mortgage. At least that's just our opinion.

What's your problem with having the work done? You could buy a house for $5-600,000, put in another $100,000, and get exactly what you want. You need not live there until it's ready, until it's exactly what you want it to be. Hire a good contractor, have a vision that you can explain to him, and then watch it unfold over a few weeks while you remain in your current apartment.

OR move to a place that you don't know if you will like and has terrible weather.

[Denton56]

Originally Posted by doglover29

Why do people stay here? We kept wondering that today. I can understand if your job is unique to DC, but if not, why would anyone stay here if they want to buy a house?

Many stay because they love where they live and/or it's home. They have friends and social groups, and often family too. Then there's the excitement of the place, particularly for political junkies.

[Denton56]

One thing you might want to think about. If you are going to buy a house in NOVA, I would suggest doing it before November 4th. A new administration means 3,000 new appointees who must move to DC and find houses. Couple that with a couple of thousand new staff members for new Congressmen and Senators, and there's a lot of people looking for a house in the DC area, beginning in November and continuing for 6 months or so.

[claremarie]

A substantial number of any new administration's appointees will be veteran political types who already live here. Hill staffers tend to be young folks who live in apartments or group houses, and are unlikely to be bidding on crapshacks in McLean. And many of those mid-career appointees who WILL be buying houses will find temporary quarters for the time being and wait until the spring to buy rather than moving their families in the middle of the school year.